When it comes to sourcing workforce for your company, what is probably more effective, compared to anything else is the relationship that exists between the hiring manager and the recruiter. That’s because this is what helps in filtering out the most suitable candidates in the best manner, without accidentally losing them out due to potential miscommunication or non-communication. The importance of this aspect of the recruitment process and talent acquisition has repeatedly been proved, by many types of research and studies. It is a commonplace occurrence that hiring managers & recruiters are not able to do what it takes to empower the relationship between them and use it to the best of their advantage.

Here we have a step-by-step guide to help you make the best of what you have.

Mutual understanding

For any relationship to be productive, the foremost ingredient is mutual understanding. We all want to ensure that talent acquisition happens most effectively. The key to proper mutual understanding shared by the recruiter and the hiring manager includes understanding each other’s respective jobs, including, but not limited to what they do together when there is a potential candidate under consideration. For instance, hiring managers are not just responsible for the hiring process. They are also in charge of managing their teams as well as projects. They are also committed to refining the entire recruitment process by analysing the factors behind the departure or dismissal of an employee, and also planning how to fill the vacant positions.

Identify strengths as well as weaknesses

This is just an extension of mutual understanding, i.e. knowing the white, the black and the grey areas. Knowing the hiring manager you’re working with well, as a recruiter, helps you advance in your field. Hiring managers are the ones who can give the best insight into what is happening internally in the company and what they actually need from the potential candidates. For best optimisation, discuss with the hiring manager the points on which you could sell the job at their company to a potential candidate, and also what you should steer clear of. Also, the hiring manager should be able to trust you to provide an insight into the current market, and if any of that information could be useful in talent acquisition.

Know the expectations

The communication between a headhunter from any recruitment agency and the hiring manager from the company looking to hire fresh talent should be crystal-clear. The hiring manager should know what you can do for him/her, and you should also be clear as a recruiter of what you need to know in order to help them most efficiently. For instance, chalk out a candidate screening plan on which of both of you agree. This will not only save precious time for both of you, but it will also ensure that only the candidates who actually fit the job profile in question are forwarded from the recruiter to the concerned hiring manager.

Proper synchronisation

When you are at the other end of this relationship i.e. you are a hiring manager, you need to understand that some things are best left to be done by the recruiter. Closing a candidate is one of them, which includes any kind of salary negotiations. This will make your work as a hiring manager much simpler since you are already busy with prior commitments regarding your existing team and the projects you have undertaken.

The recruiter or headhunter will find it much easier to convince them, as candidates are naturally more comfortable in negotiating with someone with whom they have been in contact with throughout the whole process of talent acquisition, than with someone who has the rather forbearing tag of a potential future boss. This gives the recruiter the kind of experience they may not get regularly. And then all that will be left for you to do will be handing the selected candidate their offer letter. This ensures a win-win situation for both of you. Simple, isn’t it?
Taking collective responsibility of optimising the recruitment process together

This can happen only when there is complete agreement between the hiring manager and the headhunter regarding the entire process. This is what helps in preventing situations like hiring candidates who are not suitable, burnout and disorganisation an miscommunication. And this is also what helps develop a cordial, long-term relationship between the hiring manager and the recruiter.

All the aforementioned simple strategies often go a long way in not just accomplishing your goals together, but also in building a talent pool in your company that you both are proud of, and enhances the work experience for all those associated with the enterprise.